Overview
Photocopy of typed transcript of diary, 1841-1849, kept by Universalist minister Charles Spear (1803-1863).
Dates
- Creation: 1841-1849.
Extent
1 boxesBiographical / Historical
Charles Spear (1803-1863) served as a Universalist minister in Brewster, Chicopee, Rockport, and Boston, Massachusetts. He also served as a Universalist missionary in the Hartford, Connecticut, area. He devoted his life to prison reform and was staunchly against the death penalty. Spear also apprenticed as a printer and worked as editor of the Religious Inquirer from 1832 to 1834. In 1845, he began to edit and publish a monthly magazine entitled The Hangman, later retitled The Prisoners' Friend, dedicated to reforming prisons as rehabilitation centers. He also published Essays on the Punishment of Death and Names and Titles of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Acquisition Information
Gift of the Universalist Historical Society, 1976.
- Title
- Spear, Charles, 1801-1863. Diary, 1841-1849: A Finding Aid.
- Author
- Andover-Harvard Theological Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- div00418
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard Divinity School Library, Harvard University Repository
Special Collections at Harvard Divinity School Library preserves and makes accessible primary source materials documenting the history of religion and theology, with particular historical emphasis on American liberal religious traditions. Though the historical strengths of the collections have been in the field of Christianity, other religious traditions are increasingly reflected, in step with Harvard Divinity School's evolving focus on global religious studies. Known as Andover-Harvard Theological Library since 1911, it was renamed the Harvard Divinity School Library in 2021.
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